June 12, 2024 • 19 mins
Is it possible to thrive in a real estate market where 10,000 agents are competing for fewer than 3,000 homes? Tune in to find out how you can not only survive but excel! In this episode of the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, we uncover powerful strategies for boosting your real estate business in the ultra-competitive Central Ohio market. Discover how selling higher-value properties, increasing transaction frequency with existing clients, and offering additional services can give you the edge you need. We also discuss the importance of expanding geographically to tap into new client bases and diversifying your service offerings with home staging, deep cleaning, and maintenance tasks for a fuller market capture.
But that's not all—standing out takes more than just the basics. We explore unique ways real estate agents can differentiate themselves to become a one-stop shop for their clients. From free moving vans and tax services to credit repair and loan processing, offering these additional services can substantially boost your value proposition. We also emphasize the core business of selling homes and the critical role of home inspections, even for new builds, to enhance your service portfolio. Finally, learn why expanding into new geographical areas can be a game-changer for reaching a broader audience. Don’t miss these actionable insights designed to help you stand out and succeed in the real estate market.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast,
where we discuss topics,upcoming events, news and
predictions with real estateprofessionals and entrepreneurs.
Listen and learn what makestheir companies and themselves
stand out and gain advantagesover the competition and gain
market share.
Subscribe for the latest newsand discussion on what it takes
(00:23):
to stand out from the crowd.
Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey everybody, Welcome to the Standing Out in
Ohio podcast.
This is Jim, and with me, ofcourse, is Laura, the office
goddess.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Hi everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
So all right.
Some of this one is ways toincrease business, Right, and
that could be my cash raking in,it could be the number of
transactions, but things aretough Everywhere, everywhere,
nationally.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It is.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I know we're more familiar with Central Ohio here,
but how many real estate agentsare there in Central Ohio?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Last I knew about 10,000.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And how many houses on the market?
Maybe 2,800 now.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Maybe.
Well, it was up 4% and if therewere 2,300 houses on the market
, whatever 4% over that is.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, I think I got one of the 2,800, but I could be
wrong, but anyway it's aroundthat is.
Yeah, I think I got one of the2,800, but I could be wrong, but
anyway it's around that areaUnder 3,000.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, For 10,000 agents.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Which is not good numbers.
We talked to a very experiencedagent months ago and she stated
that for Columbus Metro, thissize of a market, a healthy
market would have about what wasit?
15?
15,000?
15,000?
15,000 to 18,000?
15,000 homes, and there's 3,000.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So we're like one-fifth.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, which means it's really off, it's tough,
it's really off, it's tough.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And the Fed did not change the interest rates today,
so they're staying the same.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Which is fine People are getting used to it.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
People are getting used to it.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Anything that didn't bump them up, because that
freaks some people out.
So no bump.
Historically it's not aterrible rate, but anyway Right.
But first let's listen to this.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
All right, let's talk about ways to increase business
, and this does not.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It's not specific to an industry.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, it's not limited to just the real estate.
It could be anything.
So there's three different waysyou could sell larger items.
What if, instead of selling asmall house, you started selling
houses that were $750,000 plus?
We'll just say that we knowthere's a lot of houses in the
little sweet middle class spot.
(03:12):
So one way to increase yourbusiness or your income is sell
larger things Bigger ticketitems.
Another way is you sell moreoften to the same people or you
have a database yes and you sendnew services, new what, what?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
good, let's just say you're selling houses.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You sell more.
You sell a house to that clientmore times, probably an
investor, probably, or somebodywho likes to move around a lot,
which I don't know why you don'tlike doing that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
But still be an investor because they can live
there for a year or so, get thatgood interest rate for living
in the house and then move atthe end of that term and sell it
.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So we have two ways.
You can sell larger, moreexpensive items or houses.
You can sell more often to thesame person, or maybe sell to
new people.
Okay, another way is you cansell other things or services to
those people.
Like you expand, we'll stick toreal estate.
You're expanding.
(04:22):
You do more than just sellhouses or help people buy houses
.
You have other services you cango along with that.
So it's covered in ways.
And then what I want to talkabout, that one thing is selling
to more people means youprobably have to expand
geographically.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
And I do know some agents that have started doing
that.
They're typically in theColumbus market.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
They've moved to Dayton, cincinnati or different
areas that are outside of theirnorm they're expanding the range
and they're getting into themls and those areas wow, we've
done some house inspections allthe way down by macarthur logan,
athens, athens, and the and Ican't remember which agent it
(05:03):
was and I wouldn't tell the nameanyway, but it was a Columbus
agent that's going out that farBecause that's what their client
wanted.
So if you have a client thatwants to go out that far, that's
one way you have to.
If you want that business,that's what you'll do.
It expands geographically inthe area that you'll cover.
Now the other thing to makemore money is you offer new
(05:24):
services or additional services,like for home inspection.
We do the home inspection, ofcourse, right, but we also do
termite, radon, mold testing,voc testing, sewer scope,
chimney scope.
Did I say radon?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yes, you did.
Okay, we pretty much doeverything.
Water testing, water testing.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, so pretty much everything.
So we expanded.
One-stop shop One-stop shop.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
So an agent of the day their stager.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I don't know if they flake, ghosted them, had an
emergency come up.
Anyway, they weren't able toprovide the service, so the
agent had some stuff in storageshe had her own stuff in storage
.
She did it herself.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And it looked good actually.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Oh, did you see pictures of it?
No, we were there.
I don't remember so many houses.
So, anyway, so you can do yourown staging so many houses.
So, anyway, so you could doyour own staging and you, so you
could do that.
You could offer staging toother agents as well, or for for
sell by owners which they wouldprobably want to do their own,
but you could do that.
You could do a staging service.
(06:42):
You could also offer a homeprep services like deep cleaning
, painting.
Uh, maybe you know what's partof the pain touching up the
walls, things.
I can maybe tighten up someloose rails mow the lawn service
, lawn service.
You could offer that service andcharge people.
(07:03):
I don't know.
You probably have to tellpeople you're you're charging
for this.
At least you got to be aboveboard for all the walls and
everything, but that's somethingyou can do.
You can do a clean out service.
Somebody has.
It's a for a state sale and thehouse is just full of 50 years
worth of stuff.
No kids are out of town.
(07:24):
You could offer to do the cleanout service for a little bit of
extra cash, Right, or well,we'll get this.
So, clean-out service you canrent a moving van to people.
I don't know the legalities,but this is some ideas.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I do know that there is an agency that advertises
that for their clients they havea moving van that they will let
them use.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Correct, I'm going to get to that.
I'm going to get to that.
So move in, sell moving boxes,moving items like packing
supplies.
You could do that.
You can put an Amazon affiliatelink Go, hey, if you need
supplies, go here.
This is my affiliate link,which tells them that you can
make a little money off thatright.
Here's my affiliate link foryour moving supplies that you're
(08:11):
gonna need, or for cleaningsupplies, or you know yeah, but
you can also provide a cleaningservice to somebody just before
they move into the house.
Some people are freaked outabout germs, some people just
they're just clean, clean freaksand they want it cleaned out.
That that's what you do, so youcan provide these other
services and charge for that,okay.
Or you could provide theseservices for free.
(08:38):
Some people are going to goshit.
No, I'm not mowing anybody'syard for free and all that stuff
.
I know agents go out of the wayand help people out, because
it's hard for some people to getthings done.
But all these extra services,especially them for free or at a
discount, would be somethingunique to make that agent stand
(09:02):
out.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
And more likely to have people use them, which
would bring more referrals andit would bring more people to
them in the long run and gettheir name out there and you
wouldn't have to do it for freeor all the time.
I mean, if it's something youknow just to get you over the
hump right now in a tight marketand to get your name out there.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, you can easily.
I mean staging services.
Instead of when you get my newfurniture, instead of donating
or throwing it away, put it instorage.
If you have a storage unitalready, it's not going to cost
you anything more.
Put it in storage.
When somebody needs it, hereyou go, put it in there.
Save your cardboard boxes.
You put blankets on top of that.
(09:43):
It looks like a bed.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
We've seen that.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I've got tricked a couple times.
One time, blankets on top ofthat.
It looks like a bed.
We've seen that.
I've got tricked a couple times.
Oh, and one time I was fallingback in through a window.
I was on the roof.
I went out that window Fine,coming back in A little harder.
So I put my hand on the bed,which wasn't a bed it was just
an air mattress and a bunch ofcardboard boxes.
The whole thing slid over.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
And you hit your face on the carpet.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
No, I didn't do that.
I came close.
I'm glad nobody was around.
It was a little embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm kind of sorry I missed it.
Yeah, I know it happensTragedies, but it's just
cardboard boxes and an airmattress 19 bucks at Walmart the
last I knew for a twin airmattress.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, so if you did freestating, which won't cost
you anything other than yourtime and maybe your gas, just
get in there, you're going tostand out, right?
I mean, I don't know, we'venever done staging before.
We probably won't here when wesell this place, but we may
(10:43):
leave.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
All we'd have to do is leave a few bits of furniture
and just leave it here and itstays.
We clean it up.
It's not bad to leave a fewstuff here.
We'll take it eventually, butit could stay there.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Or it could just stay .
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I don't know how many people charge for staging.
I don't know, I don't have aclue $500?
, $1,000?
, I do not know, I have no idea.
Yeah, or emails and let us know.
However you want to do it, well, we can look it up.
But anyway, because agents theones I've interviewed or we talk
(11:21):
to, like, hey, what do you do?
That's unique.
There's almost nodifferentiation between one
agent to the next Some offer,hey, a free moving van if you
use my services.
That's unique.
They're not the only ones doingthat and you'll never be the
only person doing certain thingsfor long, if ever.
But you can start that trend.
(11:41):
You can start.
Well, you do three uniquethings.
There's not many people goingto have all three of the unique
things you do or the extraservice that you provide.
So, man, if I was a real estateagent, I would be doing some of
these things.
I would definitely do stuffthat other agents would not be
willing to do, that the buyer orthe seller would value.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Right, because that's what it's about at this point.
It's about getting thatcontract, getting that buyer,
getting that seller, and youneed to stand out and you need
to have people notice you,because you've got 10 000 people
you're competing against and ina market that's got under 3 000
homes, the only way you'regetting business is to stand out
(12:27):
yeah, and a couple of thosehomes selling per month are new
bills, such a new build and theydon't always get inspected.
No, we heard what 18 to 20 was abaseline guess as to the new
homes, but we didn't have aspecific we taught a CE class
today and I asked the agents ifthey knew.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Nobody seemed to know , but I said, hey, of the new
homes that are being purchasedor closed upon each month, what
percentage of those are brandnew construction?
And I said I meant, I heard, Ithought it was like 18 to 20 and
the person who spoke up says no, it's way higher than that it's
got to be higher than that iswhat they said, so I don't, I
(13:09):
don't know.
So it's a little rough for alot of home, essentially
companies.
We're down a little bit, but notnot like other companies so,
which is a testament how oursystems are pretty smooth, so
consistent.
The reports everything, yeah,so that is doing as well.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
But you need something and we're kind of a
one-stop shop as well.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yes, so you, if you're listening, you're a real
estate man.
I would try and become aone-stop shop.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
I do know other agents that include tax services
or credit repair services.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Oh, a side hustle, yeah, like they're literally a
one-stop shop.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So Joe Schmo comes in and he's got crappy credit, so
they work with him to get hiscredit up.
They help Joe do his taxes, sothey know you know what his
income is.
Then I know some agents thathave now become loan officers
and they're able to processloans.
So there's a lot of differentskills that you can have.
(14:11):
It's not just the staging orthe painting.
There are other things that youcan learn and that you can add
to that that mean that you'readding value for your clients
yes, and now I was a littlecaution.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So you're a real estate agent, your main thing is
selling houses.
Say you started doing like lawncare for your clients, okay,
and for your, for your listings.
Do that for your listings.
That's cool, especially ifthey're out of town.
They would appreciate that.
I would caution that person.
If that landscaping startsgoing, it's getting requests
(14:48):
from the neighbors refuse, keepit only for your clients,
because do those extra side jobswhich that will become will be
distraction to your main focus.
But your main focus is servingyour client so well that they'll
(15:09):
recommend you to others andalways come back to you.
And then because don't talk.
My real estate agent was mowingmy grass when I was gone and I
sold that house for 15 over askand it looked so amazingly good.
That's what you want.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yeah, you want that, unless you've got somebody that
you have managing that and theytake over for non-clients.
Yeah, so if you have a teenagechild, Work them into the
business, yeah, and have themlearn responsibility and
scheduling and all of that stuff.
And who knows, maybe it's ajump start into them becoming an
(15:48):
entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yep, because it doesn't have to be you doing
everything.
No, it does not.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
You can delegate that stuff out.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
You have to have your resources, your resources, yep,
so I'm thinking about it.
For that, keep us on mind forhome inspections, we especially
for new builds yeah, we do newbuild inspections, like pre-dry
wall, final walkthrough, 11month warranty inspection, and
we do inspections on houses thatare already existing.
We've done them.
(16:16):
I think the oldest house weever did I think David did it
was like day like 1790,something like this.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, it was like late 1700s.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Crazy old, but we do them all.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Ages, super old, brand new, any foundation condo
duplex Commercial, commercial,we do them all Any innovation.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Condo duplex commercial we do it all
Multifamily, so we can do it allOne-stop shop.
So, anyway, keep us in mind forinspections and think of that
list I gave of different ideasfor extra services.
And what can you add to helpyourself stand out, because you
(16:55):
can always sell larger homes,sell more often.
Change geographical locationsor you can add additional
services.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
We've actually done that.
Added a geographical location.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
We have a couple times.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Well, we're doing it.
Just recently we hired a guywho's been doing inspections for
a while out in.
He lives in St Clairsvilleright now.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Which is almost Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
He's looking to move to Cambridge so he can handle
Johnstown, cambridge.
Newark all of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, you have to think way out east.
East on 70.
We have you covered on that.
So we, because we're firstexpansion was more into dayton
area then marion delaware area.
Yeah, yeah, marion delawarecolumbus, we've completely
covered that.
We've gone down to Chillicothe.
Of course, gallup Police.
I will go the further distancesbecause I want the inspectors
(18:02):
available to do a secondinspection, right?
So I don't mind.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
You're the rubber band man.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I'm the rubber band man who travels.
If somebody needs an inspectionwithin that typical 48 hours
that we provide, I'm the extraguy who helps make that happen.
Not always, but we definitelytry.
So anyway, that's it everybody.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Bye, or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh
episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
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jimtroffcom.
That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H andclick on podcast.
(18:51):
Until next time, learn and godo stuff.
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast,
where we discuss topics,upcoming events, news and
predictions with real estateprofessionals and entrepreneurs.
Listen and learn what makestheir companies and themselves
stand out and gain advantagesover the competition and gain
market share.
Subscribe for the latest newsand discussion on what it takes
(00:23):
to stand out from the crowd.
Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey everybody, Welcome to the Standing Out in
Ohio podcast.
This is Jim, and with me, ofcourse, is Laura, the office
goddess.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Hi everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
So all right.
Some of this one is ways toincrease business, Right, and
that could be my cash raking in,it could be the number of
transactions, but things aretough Everywhere, everywhere,
nationally.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It is.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I know we're more familiar with Central Ohio here,
but how many real estate agentsare there in Central Ohio?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Last I knew about 10,000.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And how many houses on the market?
Maybe 2,800 now.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Maybe.
Well, it was up 4% and if therewere 2,300 houses on the market
, whatever 4% over that is.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, I think I got one of the 2,800, but I could be
wrong, but anyway it's aroundthat is.
Yeah, I think I got one of the2,800, but I could be wrong, but
anyway it's around that areaUnder 3,000.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, For 10,000 agents.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Which is not good numbers.
We talked to a very experiencedagent months ago and she stated
that for Columbus Metro, thissize of a market, a healthy
market would have about what wasit?
15?
15,000?
15,000?
15,000 to 18,000?
15,000 homes, and there's 3,000.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So we're like one-fifth.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, which means it's really off, it's tough,
it's really off, it's tough.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And the Fed did not change the interest rates today,
so they're staying the same.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Which is fine People are getting used to it.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
People are getting used to it.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Anything that didn't bump them up, because that
freaks some people out.
So no bump.
Historically it's not aterrible rate, but anyway Right.
But first let's listen to this.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
All right, let's talk about ways to increase business
, and this does not.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It's not specific to an industry.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, it's not limited to just the real estate.
It could be anything.
So there's three different waysyou could sell larger items.
What if, instead of selling asmall house, you started selling
houses that were $750,000 plus?
We'll just say that we knowthere's a lot of houses in the
little sweet middle class spot.
(03:12):
So one way to increase yourbusiness or your income is sell
larger things Bigger ticketitems.
Another way is you sell moreoften to the same people or you
have a database yes and you sendnew services, new what, what?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
good, let's just say you're selling houses.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You sell more.
You sell a house to that clientmore times, probably an
investor, probably, or somebodywho likes to move around a lot,
which I don't know why you don'tlike doing that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
But still be an investor because they can live
there for a year or so, get thatgood interest rate for living
in the house and then move atthe end of that term and sell it
.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So we have two ways.
You can sell larger, moreexpensive items or houses.
You can sell more often to thesame person, or maybe sell to
new people.
Okay, another way is you cansell other things or services to
those people.
Like you expand, we'll stick toreal estate.
You're expanding.
(04:22):
You do more than just sellhouses or help people buy houses
.
You have other services you cango along with that.
So it's covered in ways.
And then what I want to talkabout, that one thing is selling
to more people means youprobably have to expand
geographically.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
And I do know some agents that have started doing
that.
They're typically in theColumbus market.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
They've moved to Dayton, cincinnati or different
areas that are outside of theirnorm they're expanding the range
and they're getting into themls and those areas wow, we've
done some house inspections allthe way down by macarthur logan,
athens, athens, and the and Ican't remember which agent it
(05:03):
was and I wouldn't tell the nameanyway, but it was a Columbus
agent that's going out that farBecause that's what their client
wanted.
So if you have a client thatwants to go out that far, that's
one way you have to.
If you want that business,that's what you'll do.
It expands geographically inthe area that you'll cover.
Now the other thing to makemore money is you offer new
(05:24):
services or additional services,like for home inspection.
We do the home inspection, ofcourse, right, but we also do
termite, radon, mold testing,voc testing, sewer scope,
chimney scope.
Did I say radon?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yes, you did.
Okay, we pretty much doeverything.
Water testing, water testing.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, so pretty much everything.
So we expanded.
One-stop shop One-stop shop.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
So an agent of the day their stager.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I don't know if they flake, ghosted them, had an
emergency come up.
Anyway, they weren't able toprovide the service, so the
agent had some stuff in storageshe had her own stuff in storage
.
She did it herself.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And it looked good actually.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Oh, did you see pictures of it?
No, we were there.
I don't remember so many houses.
So, anyway, so you can do yourown staging so many houses.
So, anyway, so you could doyour own staging and you, so you
could do that.
You could offer staging toother agents as well, or for for
sell by owners which they wouldprobably want to do their own,
but you could do that.
You could do a staging service.
(06:42):
You could also offer a homeprep services like deep cleaning
, painting.
Uh, maybe you know what's partof the pain touching up the
walls, things.
I can maybe tighten up someloose rails mow the lawn service
, lawn service.
You could offer that service andcharge people.
(07:03):
I don't know.
You probably have to tellpeople you're you're charging
for this.
At least you got to be aboveboard for all the walls and
everything, but that's somethingyou can do.
You can do a clean out service.
Somebody has.
It's a for a state sale and thehouse is just full of 50 years
worth of stuff.
No kids are out of town.
(07:24):
You could offer to do the cleanout service for a little bit of
extra cash, Right, or well,we'll get this.
So, clean-out service you canrent a moving van to people.
I don't know the legalities,but this is some ideas.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I do know that there is an agency that advertises
that for their clients they havea moving van that they will let
them use.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Correct, I'm going to get to that.
I'm going to get to that.
So move in, sell moving boxes,moving items like packing
supplies.
You could do that.
You can put an Amazon affiliatelink Go, hey, if you need
supplies, go here.
This is my affiliate link,which tells them that you can
make a little money off thatright.
Here's my affiliate link foryour moving supplies that you're
(08:11):
gonna need, or for cleaningsupplies, or you know yeah, but
you can also provide a cleaningservice to somebody just before
they move into the house.
Some people are freaked outabout germs, some people just
they're just clean, clean freaksand they want it cleaned out.
That that's what you do, so youcan provide these other
services and charge for that,okay.
Or you could provide theseservices for free.
(08:38):
Some people are going to goshit.
No, I'm not mowing anybody'syard for free and all that stuff
.
I know agents go out of the wayand help people out, because
it's hard for some people to getthings done.
But all these extra services,especially them for free or at a
discount, would be somethingunique to make that agent stand
(09:02):
out.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
And more likely to have people use them, which
would bring more referrals andit would bring more people to
them in the long run and gettheir name out there and you
wouldn't have to do it for freeor all the time.
I mean, if it's something youknow just to get you over the
hump right now in a tight marketand to get your name out there.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, you can easily.
I mean staging services.
Instead of when you get my newfurniture, instead of donating
or throwing it away, put it instorage.
If you have a storage unitalready, it's not going to cost
you anything more.
Put it in storage.
When somebody needs it, hereyou go, put it in there.
Save your cardboard boxes.
You put blankets on top of that.
(09:43):
It looks like a bed.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
We've seen that.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I've got tricked a couple times.
One time, blankets on top ofthat.
It looks like a bed.
We've seen that.
I've got tricked a couple times.
Oh, and one time I was fallingback in through a window.
I was on the roof.
I went out that window Fine,coming back in A little harder.
So I put my hand on the bed,which wasn't a bed it was just
an air mattress and a bunch ofcardboard boxes.
The whole thing slid over.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
And you hit your face on the carpet.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
No, I didn't do that.
I came close.
I'm glad nobody was around.
It was a little embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I'm kind of sorry I missed it.
Yeah, I know it happensTragedies, but it's just
cardboard boxes and an airmattress 19 bucks at Walmart the
last I knew for a twin airmattress.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, so if you did freestating, which won't cost
you anything other than yourtime and maybe your gas, just
get in there, you're going tostand out, right?
I mean, I don't know, we'venever done staging before.
We probably won't here when wesell this place, but we may
(10:43):
leave.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
All we'd have to do is leave a few bits of furniture
and just leave it here and itstays.
We clean it up.
It's not bad to leave a fewstuff here.
We'll take it eventually, butit could stay there.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Or it could just stay .
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I don't know how many people charge for staging.
I don't know, I don't have aclue $500?
, $1,000?
, I do not know, I have no idea.
Yeah, or emails and let us know.
However you want to do it, well, we can look it up.
But anyway, because agents theones I've interviewed or we talk
(11:21):
to, like, hey, what do you do?
That's unique.
There's almost nodifferentiation between one
agent to the next Some offer,hey, a free moving van if you
use my services.
That's unique.
They're not the only ones doingthat and you'll never be the
only person doing certain thingsfor long, if ever.
But you can start that trend.
(11:41):
You can start.
Well, you do three uniquethings.
There's not many people goingto have all three of the unique
things you do or the extraservice that you provide.
So, man, if I was a real estateagent, I would be doing some of
these things.
I would definitely do stuffthat other agents would not be
willing to do, that the buyer orthe seller would value.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Right, because that's what it's about at this point.
It's about getting thatcontract, getting that buyer,
getting that seller, and youneed to stand out and you need
to have people notice you,because you've got 10 000 people
you're competing against and ina market that's got under 3 000
homes, the only way you'regetting business is to stand out
(12:27):
yeah, and a couple of thosehomes selling per month are new
bills, such a new build and theydon't always get inspected.
No, we heard what 18 to 20 was abaseline guess as to the new
homes, but we didn't have aspecific we taught a CE class
today and I asked the agents ifthey knew.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Nobody seemed to know , but I said, hey, of the new
homes that are being purchasedor closed upon each month, what
percentage of those are brandnew construction?
And I said I meant, I heard, Ithought it was like 18 to 20 and
the person who spoke up says no, it's way higher than that it's
got to be higher than that iswhat they said, so I don't, I
(13:09):
don't know.
So it's a little rough for alot of home, essentially
companies.
We're down a little bit, but notnot like other companies so,
which is a testament how oursystems are pretty smooth, so
consistent.
The reports everything, yeah,so that is doing as well.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
But you need something and we're kind of a
one-stop shop as well.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yes, so you, if you're listening, you're a real
estate man.
I would try and become aone-stop shop.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
I do know other agents that include tax services
or credit repair services.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Oh, a side hustle, yeah, like they're literally a
one-stop shop.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So Joe Schmo comes in and he's got crappy credit, so
they work with him to get hiscredit up.
They help Joe do his taxes, sothey know you know what his
income is.
Then I know some agents thathave now become loan officers
and they're able to processloans.
So there's a lot of differentskills that you can have.
(14:11):
It's not just the staging orthe painting.
There are other things that youcan learn and that you can add
to that that mean that you'readding value for your clients
yes, and now I was a littlecaution.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So you're a real estate agent, your main thing is
selling houses.
Say you started doing like lawncare for your clients, okay,
and for your, for your listings.
Do that for your listings.
That's cool, especially ifthey're out of town.
They would appreciate that.
I would caution that person.
If that landscaping startsgoing, it's getting requests
(14:48):
from the neighbors refuse, keepit only for your clients,
because do those extra side jobswhich that will become will be
distraction to your main focus.
But your main focus is servingyour client so well that they'll
(15:09):
recommend you to others andalways come back to you.
And then because don't talk.
My real estate agent was mowingmy grass when I was gone and I
sold that house for 15 over askand it looked so amazingly good.
That's what you want.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yeah, you want that, unless you've got somebody that
you have managing that and theytake over for non-clients.
Yeah, so if you have a teenagechild, Work them into the
business, yeah, and have themlearn responsibility and
scheduling and all of that stuff.
And who knows, maybe it's ajump start into them becoming an
(15:48):
entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yep, because it doesn't have to be you doing
everything.
No, it does not.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
You can delegate that stuff out.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
You have to have your resources, your resources, yep,
so I'm thinking about it.
For that, keep us on mind forhome inspections, we especially
for new builds yeah, we do newbuild inspections, like pre-dry
wall, final walkthrough, 11month warranty inspection, and
we do inspections on houses thatare already existing.
We've done them.
(16:16):
I think the oldest house weever did I think David did it
was like day like 1790,something like this.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah, it was like late 1700s.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Crazy old, but we do them all.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Ages, super old, brand new, any foundation condo
duplex Commercial, commercial,we do them all Any innovation.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Condo duplex commercial we do it all
Multifamily, so we can do it allOne-stop shop.
So, anyway, keep us in mind forinspections and think of that
list I gave of different ideasfor extra services.
And what can you add to helpyourself stand out, because you
(16:55):
can always sell larger homes,sell more often.
Change geographical locationsor you can add additional
services.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
We've actually done that.
Added a geographical location.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
We have a couple times.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Well, we're doing it.
Just recently we hired a guywho's been doing inspections for
a while out in.
He lives in St Clairsvilleright now.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Which is almost Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
He's looking to move to Cambridge so he can handle
Johnstown, cambridge.
Newark all of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, you have to think way out east.
East on 70.
We have you covered on that.
So we, because we're firstexpansion was more into dayton
area then marion delaware area.
Yeah, yeah, marion delawarecolumbus, we've completely
covered that.
We've gone down to Chillicothe.
Of course, gallup Police.
I will go the further distancesbecause I want the inspectors
(18:02):
available to do a secondinspection, right?
So I don't mind.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
You're the rubber band man.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I'm the rubber band man who travels.
If somebody needs an inspectionwithin that typical 48 hours
that we provide, I'm the extraguy who helps make that happen.
Not always, but we definitelytry.
So anyway, that's it everybody.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Bye, or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh
episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
jimtroffcom.
That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H andclick on podcast.
(18:51):
Until next time, learn and godo stuff.
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